Unemployment Conundrum: Task Ahead Of Buhari

Nigeria is a country blessed with numerous natural resources, yet her graduates languish in unemployment after the rigorous training they undergo as well as huge sums of money expended in the acquisition of skill in various institutions of higher learning.
Consequently, unemployment and underemployment are on the increase, the situation gets worse as the trend nears hopeless by the day; the youths are reverting to jobs they have little or no knowledge of, while the higher institutions pour more graduates in the labour market every year.
The insurgency in the North East which defied months of emergency rule can be attributed to joblessness; ironically the Ebola disease attracted a more swift government response. What a nation!
The search for an Ebola cure stretched to consumption of bitter cola and salt water therapies among others, the federal government has equally invested heavily on wiping away Boko Haram, but what seemed like the root cause, which is unemployment, is still being treated with kid gloves. How ironical!
The implementation of the Treasury Single Account, TSA, has fetched trillions of naira for government, a few billions out of the chunk, if invested in reviving the nation’s moribund industries, would substantially address the menace of joblessness if this worries our leaders.
The previous governments attempted a couple of options in addressing this scourge and timed bomb by empowering the teeming youth and the “ unproductive” poverty alleviation, empowerment and development strategy programmes by investing N220 billion for the Small and Medium Scale Enterprise and another N1Million dollar investment without achieving anything.
Suffice to say that Nigeria presently sits on a keg of gunpowder, the situation undoubtedly precarious and like a balloon, just a pin could deflect it, hence the need for urgent steps.
Our centralised development planning has been discarded, the manufacturing sector has collapsed and job creation is now left in the hands of the capitalists who instead of investing in these companies to create more jobs, have become scavengers, dismantling many of the plants.
Since the advent of democracy in 1999, our economic policies have been that of removing the role of the state in economic development, job creation and restrictions to the provision of private sector friendly environment. This makes employment a private affair of the individuals concerned and not that of government.
The orthodox economic style of both the World Bank /IMF that job creation is the business of private entrepreneurs and foreign investors alone are no longer tenable.
If indeed an idle mind is the devil’s workshop, then there are millions of devils in Nigeria and truly, a disturbing development with equal measured dangers.
Self preservation is the first law of nature and if young people cannot survive then the society is not safe because they will do whatever is necessary to survive. We must take into cognisance that restiveness will remain with us until the youths of this country are meaningfully engaged.
The confused state of young vibrant unemployed youth must worry the state and leaders, particularly the political elites.
We are in 2016 and only the needful will be the best way to go. Just like the just concluded national conference, this is the time for the federal government under the `peoples General’ Muhammadu Buhari, to organise a summit of well-meaning Nigerians to discuss the problem of unemployment in our country.
The vigor and vitality of the youth cannot be taken for granted, and if our nation fails to take care of its youth then it has failed in its responsibility of nation building. The federal government can also use funds realised from the slashing of outrageous earnings of public servants to fight unemployment.
Most disheartening is that the Executive, Judiciary and Legislators earn so much with all manners of allowances for sittings and travelling tours. We do not need to be diplomatic in expressing our feelings over this matter and I believe we should say it as it is because it is sheer wickedness for a privilege few to be in affluence while many educated youth languish in the state of unemployment.
I therefore appeal to all to take drastic measures to forestall the looming danger because; a country is free to the extent that its youth are free.
Declaring a national emergency in unemployment is necessary to followed by a national emergency on more striking bye products of unemployment.
– Olaniyi is of the Mass Communication Department, Federal Polytechnic Bida